Crash Into Me
by MKKH
Summary: When her world begins to crash all around her, can anyone save her? **COMPLETE! Part two coming soon!**
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't wrote anything in a while, and by that I mean years! My life got very complicated with school and sorority and just well, life. However I've decided things needed to be simplified (and less expensive in some ways) and so now I'm back! Please note, I am the only person that edits my work so there may be spelling or grammatical mistakes but just go with, you'll probably figure it out!**

_πάντοτε_

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She couldn't remember exactly how long they had been together. They had been partners for three years, and first slept together around six months ago. Was that a relationship? Was that the start of their relationship? There were still so many unanswered questions Kate Beckett had for Richard Castle.

She always had a lot of questions, a lot of questions that needed answers. However, she never felt that she never needed an answer more than this. The question had been lingering for weeks now. Were they? Was she? Would he? It seems like a big merry go round of questions that continued to add to each other.

A lot of things about Kate's life had changed in the past six months. She went from a pretty much single, homicide detective with a horrible secret case of PTSD to a… housewife? Well no, not really a housewife, but a missing piece to a two piece puzzle. She couldn't imagine her life without Richard Castle. He was her soulmate. She knew deep down that even though she always was convinced she wouldn't be married with children well, ever, but she could see the impossible happening with him.

Impossible. That's what this all seemed like. A big hot impossible mess. This couldn't be happening, really. It wasn't possible. She wasn't ready for this. She was supposed to be a single homicide detective, not this. Anything but this.

She knew a lot of things in life were trivial. Was this one of them? There were very trivial things in life but this wasn't one. How high her heels were, that was trivial. Where she was, that was trivial. The clothes in her closest, those were trivial. This was anything but trivial. This was life changing, this was Earth shattering.

This couldn't be happening to her. She was only 32. She was 32. Wow. She never realized how old that sounded. Maybe her clock was ticking. Maybe this was happening for a reason. Why in the world would this be happening to her? She would probably never get one clear answer, but it would be something she would have to figure out as this journey went on.

The annoying ringing of the kitchen timer and Lanie walking into her bathroom pulled Kate out of her thoughts, thankfully. She put the test down with the other four tests she had taken today.

Positive. They were all positive. Could this really be happening? Was she really… dare she say it, pregnant?

"Already test number five, believe it yet?" Lanie asked.

This was all so crazy and surreal. Five pregnancy tests, all positive.

"Maybe another, maybe these are just wrong! Maybe it was something I ate?!" Kate said aloud to try and convince herself that this was some sort of error and she wasn't pregnant, but all five pregnancy test came back positive for no apparent reason.

"Is that really how you want to spend your Friday night? Chugging as much water as your body can hold to try and convince yourself this isn't real? This is real Kate, it's happen. You're pregnant! You and Castle are going to have a baby!" Lanie told her being the voice of reason once again.

"Lanie what am I gonna do? Castle and I have only been together a few months and I don't know if he…" Kate began.

"Girl, he's been crazy about you for five years, having a baby is only going to make him crazier about you! This is perfect! Ok maybe not perfect timing, but perfect in this situation!"

Kate was still unsure. Unsure of the ever-present truth, and unsure of how Castle would react. Lanie could read emotions all over her face. A blind man could.

"Look girl, you and Castle have that trip to the Hampton's tomorrow, sit him down and tell him them!" Lanie reminded her.

"I guess you're right. But what if I'm not really… you know…" Kate stated.

"Oh come on! Five positive pregnancy tests?! You don't have to be an expert to know you're pregnant! You're glowing, you can hardly smell anything other than flowers without throwing up. All you ever talk about anymore is needing a nap, what is more obvious?" There was Lanie, reminding her of everything she should already know by now. "Now come on you need sleep or something by now!"

"I don't think I can sleep Lanie."

"Well let's watch a movie! Something!" Lanie begged. She hated seeing her best friend so worried.

Kate didn't move. She sat on the edge of the tub switching stares between the pregnancy tests and the floor. This was all too much, especially at one time. Could she even be pregnant and a homicide detective? All the stress of the present and future bearing down on Kate's shoulders seemed to only help push the tears out of her eyes.

"Oh honey come here." Lanie said softly sitting next to her and pulling her into her arms allowing her to lean on her chest and cry. Lanie waited a few moments before lifting Kate's upper body up to look her in the eye. "Honey, this is wonderful! Bad timing yes, but perfect!"

"How am I gonna take care of a baby? Sometimes I barely have time to take care of myself?" Kate questioned aloud.

"How are YOU gonna take care of a baby? Um, did you forget the amazing man in your life who is crazy about you and would do anything for you?" Lanie reminded her. Lanie wasn't sure if it was the situation or the hormones, but Kate seemed to be forgetful of the wonderful things she had in her life lately.

"How am I gonna know Castle is gonna wanna take care of another baby again? I mean Alexis is 18 and off to college, he surely can't want to do that again…"

"Are you kidding me? The guys is great with kids! You know just as well a I do that he's gonna be so in love with this baby that it's not gonna matter how old Alexis is or when was the last time he changed a dirty diaper. Those are trivial things right now." Lanie reminded.

Trivial things. She knew a lot about trivial things.

Lanie knew at this point the best thing she could do for Kate was be her shoulder to cry on, and that's just what she did. The two of them sat on the edge of the tub for hours until Kate finally lost all of her strength and cried herself nearly to sleep before barely making it into her bed and closing her eyes, still not ready to face the truth in the morning.

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**A/N: Well, how was that?! I may be updating again soon, may be a little while, I'm not sure but please review, I love and read every one of them!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm baaaaaaack! There will be time lapses, but not large ones, through out the rest of this story. At this very moment I'm not exactly sure where all of this is going to go, so I guess we will both wait and see what happens!**

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The ride to the Hampton's seemed to grow longer by the minute, with each minute feeling like an hour. He asked her if something was on her mind? Of course she said no, and lied to him and told him she was enjoying the ride.

It's not that she was uncomfortable, she had picked out the Mercedes he was driving. He had every intention of giving it to her as a gift, but she politely refused. She wasn't too hot, she wasn't too cold. She was just too worried.

Worrying. Kate Beckett had never been one to worry about her personal life. The business of her professional life, yes, but since her promotion a few years ago she hadn't put more than a few hours a week of thought into her personal life. Now she was going to have to.

"Castle, did you ever want more children?" She asked. She needed to know. Needed to know where to go with this.

"I did. I always saw myself as the father type. I wanted a houseful of kids, but I never found the right person to have them with. And then there was Alexis, and she was a handful! Why?" He responded honestly.

"Just wondering. It gets my mind going with Ryan and Jenny being pregnant about what I might want for the future…" She replied worriedly.

"Well honey, I could see myself having children with you." He began but replied quickly with "if that's what you want."

There was a short and silent pause. Castle figured he knew what she was thinking, but his thought of confirming his thought with her was cut off by their arrival at his vacation home.

"And we're here!" He said excited and peppy.

She looked over and smiled. It was a nervous smile, but Castle could hardly tell. There were a lot of things she was nervous about, tell Castle, the future, the future of her job and last but not least baby names. Yes Kate Beckett was already thinking of baby names.

Would she honor her mother? Yes in some way, but knew Johanna wasn't the right name for this baby. This baby deserved something as unique as it's situation and especially unique as it's parents. However, she did have to take Castle's opinion into consideration and if he was as excited as she hoped he'd be, they would decide names together.

They made various small talk, Kate using all of her emotions to hide her nervousness. She was very good at that. She was after all in positions every day requiring her to hide her emotions. He gave her yet another tour of the house, this time pointing out other little things he didn't point out in the last one.

This time there was something different. A small rose gold jewelry box. He picked it up and gave her some story about how meaningful it was to his mother and how much he adored it as a child. What child, especially young boy, adores a jewelry box. She knew it was probably fairly exaggerated.

He opened the box and exposed a beautiful rose gold monogram necklace. Her initials perfectly sculpted in the delicate and beautiful metal. She was truly stunned.

"Castle it's beautiful!" She told him in utter shock and surprise.

"I figured you'd like it. It's timeless and perfect. Like someone I know…" He said slightly tea singling.

She looked up at Castle with a look of utter amazement. How was she lucky to have such a wonderful man in her life?

"Wanna go take a walk on the beach?" She asked with a smile.

"I'd love to baby." He replied before placing a soft kiss on her lips.

She enjoyed the quiet walk to the beach, and the soft stares they had into each others eyes. She needed to tell him. She was going to tell him. At least telling him now he'd at least fake his happiness for the weekend and they could pretend they were a happy little family until they returned.

The beach was perfect. It was a perfect sunset, they each had a glass of wine. She hadn't taken a single sip of her wine and was thankful Castle hadn't noticed. They were walking hand and hand along the shore, the perfect sunset in the background when Castle spoke up.

"So, about the question I asked you earlier…" She began. "How would you feel about another child?"

"I mean I'd love another child, but again, whenever you're ready!" He reminded her of her previous words.

She was ready. Not for this whole situation, but to tell him.

"Well, how's now?" She asked with a small smile. He looked at her with a coy smile thinking she wanted to take him back to the house and make love to him all night. He was a little bit off. "Castle," she began slowly and quietly "I'm pregnant…"

There she did it. She told him. Those two seconds it took him to react were the longest seconds of her life.

When the two longest seconds of her life finally ended, she realized Rick had his jaw open, his hand over his mouth, and tears streaming down his face.

"Kate…" He began barely able to speak. "I'm so happy! I love you such much!" He put his forehead against hers as they looked down on her now flat belly and watched their tears fall nearly in sync. "How long? How far along are you? How long have you known? Is everything ok?" He quickly asked. His concern made her smile, he was already so worried about her safety and well being that she knew she had the perfect man.

All she could do was smile. It was hard to get that smile off her face and reply to him. "I found out last night, I haven't been to the doctor to find out how far along I am yet, because I was hoping you'd come with me…"

"Baby I'd love to! This is so amazing!" He told her, happy tears still streaming down their faces. "Let's go inside baby."

At least point he wanted nothing more than to kiss the woman of his dreams - the mother of his child, and place soft hands on her stomach that would later show evidence of their love and child. He couldn't believe how amazing everything in his life was going.

All she wanted was to make her way to the doctor and make sure not only was she really pregnant, but that everything was ok.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So I've got a little idea going, let's see if I can keep it up! Thanks for all the reviews guys!**

_10 Days Later_

10 days to get into an appointment with an OB/GYN?! Was that short?! Was that too long?! She had no idea. Lanie recommended the doctor, saying she was the best in New York and Castle only supported the doctor after reading reviews for days online. Now was the big day.

They sat in the waiting room which seemed much swankier than other OB/GYN offices. The modern black and white waiting room didn't reek of old magazines but rather smelled like it had just been furnished from a couture clothing store.

The two held hands in seats next to each other, exchanged glances and smiles when Castle would pick up the new fashion and pop culture magazines and proceed to make funny faces knowing it would make her smile. His antics seemed to make the time fly.

"Kate Beckett?" The nurse finally called pulling the two of them out of their thoughts.

He waited for her to stand up before holding her hand and walking with her to the examination room.

Upon the nurse opening the door they were greeted with an exam table and decor equal to that of the waiting room. The nurse instructed Kate to sit on the table as she took some vital information, a vial of blood, and asked about some necessary medical history.

"Ok! Everything looks great!" The nurse told them with a smile. "Here's a gown, I'm sure you know how this goes, the doctor will be in within a few moments and we'll have your lab tests back by the time the doctor is done!"

Once the nurse exited the exam room, Kate looked at Castle. He was so clueless as to what that stare was supposed to me.

"Castle." He stated raising her eyebrows at the gown she was holding in her hand.

"What?" He asked his eyes wondering from the gown to Kate and back. "Oh come on baby, we've made a baby! I've seen you naked!"

She let out a sarcastic huff followed by an eye roll and preceded to change into the gown. She sat back on the exam table when she was done but before she had time to say anymore to Castle the doctor walked in.

"Hi Kate! I'm Dr. Taylor!" The peppy blonde woman greeted them.

"Kate!" She shook the doctors hand back. Castle followed in the same manner.

"So Kate, you think you're pregnant?!" Dr. Taylor confirmed not even needing to glance at her chart. She loved how personal this doctor felt, maybe the dynamic duo as she knew they'd become in her pregnancy were right.

"Yes…" She said still afraid to say it herself. She looked over at Castle who flashed a very happy and beautiful smile.

"Wonderful! We'll get started then! Just scoot your bottom to the edge of the table and place your feet in the stirrups."

Kate did as she was instructed as the doctor put on her gloves. Her hands were resting on her stomach and she was somewhat surprised but more relieved when Castle reached out and softly grabbed her hand, interlocking their fingers, and placing the knot closer to her head.

The doctor assumed her position between Kate's legs as she alternated her glances between the ceiling, a quick peak at the doctor, and a smiling Castle. This was all happening a little too fast for Kate, but there was no going back now. The doctor interrupted the silence a few times to inform Kate exactly what she was doing or what to expect.

Appointments like these were always uncomfortable for Kate. However, she'd have to get used to this. There would be many more to come. Then labor crossed Kate's mind. She was always so blown away by women who had the strength to give birth. She also thought she couldn't do something like that, but now she would have to.

"Well, everything looks great, let's get a sonogram real fast and confirm what we're suspecting!" Dr. Taylor said to the couple as she lightly pulled the sonogram machine from behind her closer to Kate.

"Let's see if we can see this little peanut!" The doctor exclaimed happily before putting a sterile drape around Kate's waist and pulling her gown up just under her now swollen chest. "It's gonna be cold!" The doctor applied the contents of the bottle onto Kate's stomach and turned on the sonogram machine.

She moved the cold gel and wand around Kate's stomach until a clear pitter patter could be heard and a funky peanut shaped blob appeared on the screen. The happy couple looked at each other, tears beginning to fall. Kate never expected this to happen and could never have imagined being so happy about anything.

After a few seconds the doctor turned off the device, wiped Kate's stomach clean of the now warmer gel, and pulled her gown down.

"Congratulations!" She said once again. "It was great to meet you Kate." she said shaking Kate's hand and doing the same for Rick. "I'd like to see you back in here in two weeks. You seem to be about seven weeks along. Next time we'll do a sonogram and double check our guess! After your first trimester however I would like to see you in here weekly. You have a very high stress job Kate, and the baby's heart beat seemed a little fast. Nothing to worry about now, but I want to monitor it more closely." The couple nodded taking in all of the information given to them. "Here are some photos for you guys! Any more questions?!"

"Well…" Castle began.

"Yes you can have sex while you guys are pregnant. That question always starts the same!" She answered with a smile.

"What about like nutrition and stuff?" Kate didn't really know what she was asking, a mix of how could she keep herself and her baby health and another mix of what was she allowed to eat.

"Well, think of this baby like a child when you're eating. Would you let your five year old have coffee? Would you want them eating nothing but junk food? Just go with your gut. I know you don't really feel like you're ready for this or know what to do, but you've got this Kate! You're more maternal than you think!" Dr. Taylor was absolutely wonderful with words.

They scheduled an appointment with the receptionist and headed on their way.

"What next babe?" Castle asked Beckett upon leaving the doctors office.

It was a chilly late fall day. Sure they could go on a walk, but not for very long before it got too cold. Maybe go back to the loft and watch a movie? No, she wanted to get some of this excitement out of her and she surely couldn't do that watching a movie. Her thoughts were interrupted by Castle.

"I got it! Let's go get some baby books and frames for the pictures and starting picking out names!" Castle was more ecstatic than Kate, which just added to his ruggedly handsomeness.

"Ok babe!" Kate replied with a soft smile.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So I'd like to thank you all so much for the feedback and follows! Someone asked for some angst and I will give you a hint, some major angst is coming! Like major, big, HUGE! As I'm sure you can tell some of my chapters have greek words before the chapter begins, those are actually very meaningful to me and will spell something out in the end! Hope you guys enjoy!**

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_4 Days Later_

Castle was like a kid in a candy store when it came to baby books. He had ones about baby boys, baby girls, babies in general, twins, even one on triplets. That's just how Castle was. He had already picked out a handful of girl and boy names. From Castle's behavior and excitement you would think this was every Christmas and birthday present he had ever desired rolled into one. He would talk to her belly every night and had already began buying clothes and looking into nursery furniture.

Like the past four nights, tonight was spent with Castle looking through every baby book he could and Kate trying to half listen and half fall asleep.

"Ooh! What about Hazel for a girl?! It's kind of deep, and dark, and mysterious! Like a great Nikki Heat novel!" Castle questioned with excitement.

"No. Way too old fashion." Kate replied not really listening to his reasoning.

"Jezzabelle?!" Castle questioned seeming to fall in love with every name he read.

Really? Did he just suggest Jezzabelle? Did he know what that used to mean. She shot him a look as if to say 'are you crazy? NO WAY!' The look was all it took.

"Alright, no Jezzabelle. What about… Genevieve?! Yes! Genevieve! It's perfect!" How was he more excited than she was to name this baby?

"She wouldn't be able to spell it until she was five. Beside, how are you so sure it's a girl? All you're looking at and have been looking at it girls names." Kate reminded him. Well, it was clear Castle wanted another daughter.

"It's a girl! I know. One, because I'm the father and I always know, two because of her heart beat!" Castle told her with way too much confidence for his own good.

"Really? I thought it was mother knows best, and what does the heart beat have to do with anything?" Kate questioned.

"Well, yes mother does sometimes know best but father always knows the sex. That's just how it goes. And well you know how the doctor said she had a fast heart beat?"

Mhmm Kate hummed while nodding.

"She's a girl! If the heart beat is over 150 beats per minute and the doctor said hers was extremely high, then it's a girl!" He said as ecstatic as ever.

"Castle, that doesn't mean it's a girl, you heard her say yourself that it was probably stress from my job." She reminded him trying to knock some amount of minor sense into him.

"Yes but, it is a girl! She's gonna be a perfect little Genevieve!" He told her somewhat drifting into his own little fantasy with their little family.

"It isn't a she! It isn't a he! It's a… peanut!" She told him getting somewhat frustrated.

"Peanut is a she." He said emotionless and staring into her brown eyes.

"Castle, I'm ten weeks pregnant today! At this point peanut is just a peanut. It's not a he or a she, it's just a peanut!" She reminded him somewhat irritated.

"Ok honey…" He said getting somewhat defensive. "Let's lay down, we need our rest."

The two slept peacefully together until around 4:17 AM, or at least that's what the alarm clock said. It wasn't really 4:17 AM but thanks for the power outage probably around the time, their bedroom clock now read 4:17 AM while their cell phones and watches both read 8:49. Shit. It was almost 9:00 AM, they were both late. Now their secret would be out of the bag. Why else would they both show up at the prescient late together other than them being together the night before.

"Shit Castle!" She nearly yelled getting out of bed as fast as she could.

"Hey, no cuss words in front of peanut!" He told her barely able to hold his eyes open. "What's wrong?"

"We're late." She stated blatantly.

"Oh crap!" He said with a little bit less urgency than Kate had exclaimed earlier.

"Come on, we gotta go!" She said quickly running fingers through her hair and trying to look like she put a lot of effort into looking good. Then her face changed, the color that is. Green. Kate hated green, and now that was all over her face. Morning sickness. Kate was already hating morning sickness.

Rick turned around in just enough time to see Kate make a mad dash to the bathroom shutting the door behind her. Why was she still so certain that she remain a high level of privacy in this situation? They were a couple before, they were still a couple, why didn't she want him to see her experience pregnancy like this? That's just how Kate was, and these hormones didn't help it.

Rick tried to get her to open the door, but the only reply was the wonderful sign of morning sickness. He felt horrible for her, and they still had at least two more weeks of this. She never said anything about having morning sickness before and it hadn't been too bad the past few days, but he chalked this up to being something she must have ate.

When she finally emerged, Rick was more relieved than anything. "Kate!" He greeted her happily and wide eyed.

She let out a little moan. It was clear she felt horrible and it was understandable why. "You ready?" She questioned. He couldn't believe she actually still wanted to go to work after all that.

"Baby you need to rest, you really shouldn't be heading into work right now."

"I'm fine. This is what pregnancy is. I'm going to have this, I've been having this and I'm fine!" She reminded him before grabbing her purse and heading towards the door. "You coming?" She asked.

He hurried behind her as they got in her car. He didn't like her driving. He knew she was a wonderful driver that was not the problem, it was everyone else on the road. He couldn't imagine anything happening to her, or peanut. They were two of the four most important people in his life, and the thought of someone carelessly hurting them was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

"So I think you should go in first." Castle began.

"And then your come in five seconds later? Yea doesn't look like anything is up with that." She shot down that idea.

"No, I can come up a couple minutes later and you can just act like you were… ooh! committing a murder so you can solve one!" Castle replied hoping his idea would work.

"I'll just go in first. Come up a couple minutes later." She told him getting out of the car and walking towards the building.

He sat in the car and made a quick phone call while she was headed up there. He knew if Kate every found out who it was he was calling, it would tear her apart, but he couldn't help it. There was so much more to him than met the eye.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end answered.

"Hey, how are you?" He replied almost nervously.

"I'm good babe, what have you been up to?"

"Oh nothing, writing, solving murder, the usual." He replied casually.

The person on the other end let out a flirty little giggle.

"Well hey I gotta go, I just wanted to check on you and tell you I'm very excited to see you tonight." He told the other person with the least amount of excitement he'd ever have.

"Ok babe, bye!"

"Bye." He said before hanging up.

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**A/N: Dun dun dun! Who is it on the other end?! Told you the angst was coming, and there's still so much more to come!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Ohhhh the angst to come! Hope you all are ready for this!**

_Two Months Later_

"Well, looks like next time we'll be finding out what you are having!" Dr. Taylor told the couple as she wiped the cold gel off Kate's now somewhat noticeable belly.

The seemingly happy couple smiled. Seemingly happy. That's what they were right. They were supposed to be bringing a child into this world in roughly four months, they were happy right. Wrong.

"Great!" Kate said with little excitement. She was excited though, it was just hard to tell with everything going on in their personal life.

Castle just sat their silently and put a smile on his face whenever Dr. Taylor looked their way. Something was wrong with their relationship, something big. Something Earth shattering.

"Now, while it's very exciting that you're about to find out what you're having, I would like to speak with you guys in my office in just a few. I'll allow you to get dressed and the nurse will show you where I'll be!" Dr. Taylor told them before walking out the door.

As soon as she finished Castle spoke up. "It didn't mean anything."

"I'm sure it didn't, you were just kissing your ex wife in an elevator when you have a girlfriend who is pregnant with your child. Nothing is wrong with that at all!" Kate spat back sarcastically.

"I'm really sorry Kate." He begged.

"You should be. Because, like I said earlier. This between us, is over." Castle could tell this was going to take more than a few sorries and flowers and chocolate covered strawberries sent to her door to fix.

"Kate, can we…" He began.

"No, we can't talk about this. I don't want to talk about this. You cheated on me. You cheated on me for over six months why would I want to talk about reconsidering our relationship?" Kate asked him rhetorically. She was clearly upset but wouldn't risk crying or raising her voice in such a place.

Castle had to understand where she was coming from. She was crushed by a man she thought she loved, a man who's child she was carrying and that was hard enough.

She finished getting dressed and headed out the exam room door, paying no attention to whether Castle was following behind or not. This bombshell had been dropped on her two days ago, and she still wasn't ready to talk about anything at all. He begged her to let him come to this appointment with her and finally after talking it over with Lanie for hours, she decided it was only fair to let him come along. This was his child too, and nothing was ever going to change that.

They were quickly greeted by a nurse who led them to a glass door down the hall from their exam room. They sat down in the black leather chairs across from Dr. Taylor who had a variety of ultrasound photos cluttering her seemingly neat desk.

"Well Kate, first off everything is going to be fine." Now Kate was worried. What was wrong? Something was wrong. "You're blood pressure is a little on the high side, and I want to watch it more carefully. I'm sure you know high blood pressure isn't good for anyone, much less a baby, so I'm going to put you on bed rest for a couple of weeks and see how you do."

Their hearts sank. High blood pressure, bed rest, so many scary thoughts were now running through their minds. Was their baby going to be ok? Was Kate ok? Dr. Taylor could read the shock on their faces.

"Don't worry! The bed rest should do wonders! If it doesn't by your 20th week, we'll keep you on bed rest. Now, this isn't full bed rest but I would like you to take it much easier at work for the next two weeks. We'll move to full bed rest if there's no improvement, then we'll more to stricter bed rest. I'll send you with a note for your boss telling you to take it is." Dr. Taylor told the "couple" still in shock.

"Is everything else ok though?" A stunned Castle asked for an even more shocked Kate.

"Yes, everything else seems to be fine. The baby's heart beat is faster than normal as it's been since you guys first came to see me but other than that everything is great, and I'm only doing this as a precaution so that nothing more serious happens." She answered turning more to Kate. "Any other questions guys?"

"I think we're good." Kate answered quietly and still somewhat in her own world.

"Great! I know this is a lot to take in but this is just a precaution." Dr. Taylor reminded them.

Dr. Taylor showed the two of them out of the office door and scheduled another appointment. This was still too much for Kate. The one thing that seemed to be going smoothly in her life, wasn't. Her relationship was over, her job was in the garbage now, and now her and her child's life could be in danger.

The two walked to their separate cars as Castle tried to convince Kate it would be more necessary to tell Gates now than let something else happen. He knew very well, whenever Kate got mad she did the opposite of what she should. This was going to be no easy task getting Kate to take a step back, but someone had to do it. The Iron Gates had to open.

He didn't want to, but he had to do it. He was going to call Gates, tell her the whole story before Kate could get to the precinct. He had to stop her, and if Gates didn't, nothing would. He know longer had the advantage of being her significant other, so he had to use the resources he had as her partner.

It was one phone call he didn't want to make, but he did. He told Gates almost everything that happened, their history, their everything. He knew when the Iron Gates opened it wouldn't be good for anyone but their peanut, but peanut needed him to be a dad, and that's what he was doing.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So, I know I broke some hearts in that last one, sorry… This one might even be worse but you guys will get what you want next chapter, so stay with me!**

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_3 Weeks Later_

Kate was so sick of her desk. Even though their, or rather her secret was now out, it was covered in sonogram photos - a constant reminder of why she was stuck at her desk. She hadn't been on a case or doing field work in three weeks. The entire three weeks she wanted to kill Castle for his actions. Not just for cheating on her, but for calling Gates and spilling their entire history before she could even get to the prescient. By the time she arrived back from her appointment Gates had already removed her murder board and moved her desk as far away from the heat of the action as she could. She knew Castle was behind all of this.

She looked at her sonogram pictures. Her little girl. She was no longer 'their' little girl but was only her little girl. She hadn't seen or heard from Castle in almost two weeks. She called him to confront him about telling Gates, but that was the last she had heard from him. The last conversation didn't go well. She told him she didn't want to hear from him and failed to return any of his calls. Lanie accompanied her to the last few appointments and helped her pick out an outfit for her daughter to come home in.

Kate was now 21 weeks pregnant, and probably about to be put on bed rest because her blood pressure still hadn't returned to an ok state and now her daughter wasn't thriving as she was supposed to. Not only did she had stress from Castle and her job, she now had to worry about her daughter's health. She only had a few more weeks before Gates forced her to take her maternity leave upon hearing this news, and those few couldn't come soon enough.

"Finally!" Kate thought excitedly as the timer on the side of her desk went off signally her return back to her apartment for some much needed rest. She grabbed her coat off the back of the chair and headed out to her car. She was almost surprised she was still able to drive her police car. She should probably worry about getting a "family friendly" car before she worried about spending a ton on baby clothes and furniture, but she couldn't help it, it was all way too cute!

Though she had barely been on her feet all day, the walk from her desk to her car seemed like one of the longest in her life due to her incredibly achy feet. Sitting in the drivers seat of her car seemed like she was sitting on clouds compared to her desk chair. As soon as she shut the door, her daughter demanded attention letting out a few hard kicks. Kate looked down at her belly and smiled as she rubbed soft circles where she felt her daughter kick.

"Its ok honey, I know mommy is tired too, but soon we'll be all wrapped up in our own bed." She said to her belly as she put in the key in the ignition and began to back out of her parking spot.

Castle had tried to phone her many times, to let her know if she needed anything he was there. Whether it was financial, emotional, or even physical support - she was still the mother of his child and we would do anything for her. After realizing she wasn't going to answer his phone calls, at least for a while, Castle decided to escape alone to the Hampton's. Not only did he need time to write, he needed time to think.

He got a phone call around 6:45 from a number he didn't recognize.

"Hello?" He answered. He prayed it wouldn't be her. He ended things with her for a reason but he was too late, and that's what hurt the most.

"Hey Rick, it's Jim." Jim. Kate's dad. Why would he be calling Castle? Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

"Jim, what is it?" He questioned. He knew it wasn't good if Jim was calling.

"It's Katie, there's been an accident…"

Castle's heart stopped. Nothing was ok. Kate and their daughter could be dead, and he wasn't there to save her this time. He felt like he had failed. He failed as a partner of sorts, and felt like he failed as a father not being their to protect his daughter.

Jim went on to tell him the details, Kate was hit head on by a drunk driver at a stop light. She had a severe concussion from what the doctors could tell without using radiation and harming the baby. The airbag had hit her in the chest and broke a few ribs. She had one arm covering her belly and the other was broken when the paramedics got to her. She could recover from all of her injuries, but isn't wasn't going to be easy. Her pain medication was limited to small doses of Tylenol and only when her blood pressure permitted. Their daughter, though a little more distressed than usual, was still perfectly fine. Castle always knew Kate would be a wonderful mother no matter what situation.

Upon ending the conversation, Castle immediately grabbed his keys and headed for his car. Though he wasn't romantically involved with Kate anymore, he was always going to be there for her in many ways.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: While some may hate it, I will not acknowledge the identity of Castle's mystery woman. Though the situation is crucial to the story it is not the main focal point and I do not want to take away from that. And you guys will probably like me a whole lot more for this chapter (:**

λάμψη

There she was. She wasn't good, but she was alive. He couldn't be happier to see her hooked up to some many monitors and so banged up. While he knew he'd probably be the last person she'd want to see there when she woke up, he was going to be there. He always reminded her they were in this journey of bringing a child into this world, and they just hit a major pot hole.

Everything was going to be ok though. Dr. Taylor reminded them of that numerous times. In the two hours it took him to get to the city, Kate's blood pressure had went down some and their daughter seemed to be fine. Yes, everything would be ok.

He took a seat in the chair next to her and gently tucked his hand into hers. She probably wouldn't be happy he was there and holding her hand, but luckily for Castle she had no choice. Whether she liked it, or was even aware of it, she needed Castle's love and support right now, no matter how bad he screwed up.

"Kate, I know you probably can't hear me, but I love you. I always have. I know I screwed up, but I want to make it up to you. I'll do anything to make it up to you." He whispered to her praying when she woke up she'd remember this too.

As soon as he finished his silent confession to Kate his phone rang. "Hello?"

"Rick, so nice to hear from you again." The female voice on the other end answered. He knew that voice. That woman was the woman who caused him to ruin every great thing he had in his life.

"What do you want? I told you I'm done with you, with us." He reminded her.

"Well Rick, I hope you know by now I'm one that has to be taken seriously so know how serious I am when I say this - I'm going to tell. I'm going to tell the media, the press, everyone about us. I'm going to tell them about her. I'm going to show them what a heartless man you are." He knew he had to take her seriously, it wouldn't be the first time something about him was in the press because of her.

"You know that's not true." He said calmly back. He really wasn't heartless. Yes he screwed up, but he wasn't heartless. "Why do you keep acting like what we had between us was anything more than platonic? You were supposed to help me put her mother's killer in prison once and for all, and all you've done is ruin everything between us. I'm the heartless one? No. You are the heartless one. I've been nothing but great to you and you've ruined my life! Do you think that is ok?" He was getting angrier by the second, and she knew that.

"I guess you're right, but just know that you haven't made any more progress in this." She told him before hanging up.

The progress he did or didn't make didn't matter. He wanted Kate to know the truth, know that he didn't cheat on her. The hard part wouldn't be getting her to listen, it would be getting her to believe. He already screwed up trying to explore her mother's case in the first place, and now wouldn't prove to be any more ok, but all that didn't matter. If Kate would just accept and listen to him, everything would be ok.

He knew she hated it, but he stared at her for hours waiting for her to wake up. While she would be shocked, and probably unhappy that he was there, he was where he needed to be for all parties involved. Just as he started to slip into a very light slumber, Kate finally stirred. She always had perfect timing.

"Hey!" He said softly beginning to stand and stroke her hand softly.

"Hi." She replied back with a soft smile. "It's good to see you."

"You too." He matched her with a soft smile. "Now, I know I'm probably the last person you want to see her right now, with all that everything thinks I've done, but if you have a second, I want to explain myself."

"Ok…" She replied somewhat confused.

"I never cheated on you Kate, I could never dream of that. The woman that approached you, that told you all those things, well, she was trying to help me get Senator Bracken behind bars. She told me she had connections. I had been working with her for six months when you found out. I wanted to put this man behind bars, for your safety, and even more for the safety of our child, but I quickly realized it was going to be too risky. I know you're mad and probably hate me for it, but before you do or think about doing anything else, just let me be here for you and support you at least until our daughter is here." He was nearly on his knees pleading for her forgiveness, he wanted it so bad. He knew what it looked like, but as their past shows, things are not always as they seem.

"Ok." She agreed trying to hide a soft smile. She wouldn't admit it there but she knew Castle would never cheat on her, she just finally wanted a reason to believe she was right in her gut feeling, and now she finally had that reason.

"Thank you!" He answered with a smile. "Are you still tired? Do you need anything?"

She shook her head no in reply.

Castle smiled. "How's peanut?'

"As active as ever!" Kate answered rubbing her belly.

"Good. Dr. Taylor said everything's fine." He told her thinking she couldn't already tell everything was fine.

"I know," she replied. "Mother's instinct."

They exchanged soft smiles just before hearing a knock at the door. Upon hearing the knock Castle looked to Kate to make sure it was ok to let their visitor in.

"Come in." He said somewhat loudly aiming his voice towards the door.

Jim. Thank goodness it was Jim. He'd only stepped out a few minutes to grab him and Castle some coffee and it seemed so much about Kate and their relationship had changed in that time.

"Hi honey!" He said so relieved to see his daughter awake.

"Hi daddy!" She replied softly with a giant smile on her face.

"How are you feeling Katie?" Jim asked her.

"A little tired, but ok." She answered still somewhat smiling at the sight of her father.

"So as you can tell I went to get some coffee" he motioned holding up the coffee cups "and I was thinking, it's time to pick out some names for this little peanut."

Kate smiled. Her father was absolutely perfect in every way that a father could be. She was reassured knowing that her daughter would have just as amazing of a father in Rick as she did in her father.

"What were you thinking?" Rick asked still fascinated with baby names.

"Grace." Jim replied.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: That last chapter was much better wasn't it! (: This is much more Caskett-y and much more like the characters. I had to have a plot twist of some sorts in there! Thanks for staying with me and for the all the reviews! As you can tell I read them all and take them into great consideration so please let me know what else you guys think would be good! Also I recently noticed by computer is changing precinct to present? Sorry about that… **

έγκαυμα

_Three Weeks Later_

After another week in the hospital, and two weeks on strict bed rest from her doctor supervised by Castle in the loft, Kate was finally able to move about the loft freely whenever she pleased. Sure she had some conditions, she couldn't lift anything over five pounds and couldn't stand too close to the microwave. Ok, maybe that last one was Castle overreacting a bit, but she had a lot more freedom than she did.

She spent most of those two weeks at home looking for ways to decorate their daughter's nurseries. Yes two, nurseries that is. Kate hadn't fully decided if she wanted to move in with Rick, yes they had gone back to being a couple but just like before their daughter she still had no plans to move into the loft despite the numerous times he insisted. She sided with him when it came to not putting as much into the nursery at her apartment. They decided it would be best if she spent more time at the loft and the spare nursery at what seemed to be her spare apartment was just for when needed.

Today was the day. Today they were going to finish their daughter's nursery! Martha had moved in with her new boyfriend and Alexis then moved into Martha's room which was not only bigger but had it's own bathroom. The walls in Alexis' bedroom which used to be a beautiful shade of teal were now painted a medium chic gray. The late night runs Kate sent Rick on were not only for random food cravings, but for wood frames for her to paint various shades of pink.

Rick was out getting the furniture she insisted on having. While her crib and changing table were being shipped to the loft and professionally assembled, which Rick insisted because of his unlucky streak when it came to putting beds together which resulted in Alexis' and Martha's beds both falling numerous times, Rick was in charge of picking up the rocking chair and dresser.

The furniture was a beautiful cherry wood. The crib was a sleigh crib which would soon be filled with pink and grey bedding featuring adorable little elephants. Kate had found the bedding online and fell in love instantly, purchasing at 2:00 AM when she found it while Rick was out on a craving run.

The pink wood frames she had painted would soon be filled with pictures of cartoon like elephants and their closest family. The frames of all different shapes and sizes would be arranged in a collage like manor around a wooden initial as soon as their daughters name was decided.

They loved the name Grace, but also loved the name Eva. Both were suggestions from Jim and both were suggested because of their deeper meaning. Kate had been saved numerous times by the Grace of God and Eva meaning giver of life seemed very perfect too. They had however decided on a middle name, Annabelle. She was surprised when Castle suggested the name as a mix between the Anna at the end of Johanna, and Belle meaning beautiful. Really the name was in homage to her beautiful mother.

Kate was happy to be pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of Rick entering the loft with his hands full and some moving men entering behind him.

Kate watched as Rick played head of the nursery circus, giving the men instructions and putting everything perfect in it's place. Kate did their daughter's laundry and once everything was in place, made her bed for the first time. It was truly amazing everything that was happening to her. She was still in a state of shock.

As she sat in the new rocking chair, she stare at Castle who was sitting on the floor folding laundry just as she was. He found her staring at him and shot her a smile. She stopped what she was doing and put her hands under her belly. She looked down at her belly in a sense of amazement, she was so excited to be a mother, and there were still so many good things to come!

**A/N: Sorry it's short and their no dialogue, but finally a happy chapter! More plot twists and turns are to come!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So I take it everyone is liking the story much better! The last chapter was a bit more of a filler chapter but this one will be more dramatic. For my medical sources in here I consulted a high risk OBGYN (my future sister in law) so everything is fact and you'd be surprised at how weird pregnancy and complications and things can be! **

**Also, I use spell check but since I write on a MacBook sometimes words get changed automatically without me noticing so I would like to apologize for prescient being in place of precinct. Gotta love auto correct! But again, sorry about that!**

_Six weeks later. _

30 weeks. She was finally 30 weeks. With a month and a half to go, she was ready to spend these next six weeks resting and preparing for baby Grace/Eva. Yes, even after six weeks of discussion and consideration, peanut still didn't have a name.

She rubbed her belly while staring down at it admirably. She was still amazed at how something so little could have such a big impact on their life. She was about a foot long and weighed about three pounds, well Dr. Taylor thought she did at the last appointment last week. Kate's growing excitement to meet her only pushed her to finish her nursery and name little peanut, she was ready to be a mother - that was for sure.

There were many times where she knew she could have spared herself a lot of trouble and just listened to Castle whenever he tried to explain something about the events of their recent past. She knew how deep fried twinky was and should have listened to him that day in the doctor's office instead of storming out, but she was Kate and she was stubborn. The hormones didn't help either. As much as she loved being pregnant, she couldn't wait to be back to normal on the hormone scale.

She was happily pulled out of her thoughts by a soft knock on the open door of the nursery she had been sitting in.

"Hey," he said with a smile. "Am I interrupting?" He knew she was thinking about a lot of thinks but knew that picking her brain wasn't the smartest idea lately.

"No." She replied looking at him and matching his soft smile.

It was done. The nursery for baby Grace/Eva was finally done! It had turned out as perfect as Kate could have dreamed it could be. It also was the only nursery peanut would need. Kate had come to her senses in the past six weeks and moved in with Castle completely. The extra crib was now in the corner of their bedroom ready for peanut. They had agreed they should keep the crib she had already bought for their room due to the distance from their bedroom to the second floor of the loft where peanut's room would be.

She giggled a bit when she noticed what Castle was carrying. Two champagne flukes full of… sparkling apple cider. They couldn't enjoy champagne on this wonderful occasion to celebrated the completion of peanut's nursery so sparkling cider would have to do. He always knew how to bring a smile to her face.

Castle sat down at her feet on the ottoman of the glider. They talked about how excited they were and their opinions on the names they had been considering for months, coming to no conclusion on the matter.

"Already babe, well if you are feeling ready for it we should probably get going. We have a bunch of things to do today!" He ended the conversation pulling both of them out of their thoughts and into the realization of the tasks of the day.

"Ok baby!" She smiled at him softly before slipping on her fur clogs Castle had bought her to help keep her feet warm and comfortable.

"So I was thinking, we should look at the new Mercedes G-Class. I heard it's 'hella tight.'" He told her as he was walking toward the kitchen to start his car. Remain start really came in handy in the winter.

"Hella tight?" She questioned in typical Kate Beckett fashion.

"Yea, I think it means like cool or flashy or something! Alexis was playing this catchy song and it's been stuck in my head for days!" He said sounding more like a sorority girl as the sentence ended.

Kate gave a minor eye rolls behind his back as he grabbed her purse for her and headed out the door. The couple held each other close as they put on their sunglasses nearly in sync to protect their eyes from the blinding paparazzi flashes they had followed them for weeks now.

They safely made it to their car despite all the hustle and bustle of the photographers and sped off to the dealership. They didn't spend much time there as Castle walked in to the dealership to his usual salesmen, asked for the safest sedan they offered and Beckett nearly fell in love right away.

Upon finalizing the purchase, Kate got in the front seat of her new car, set the seat perfectly and followed Castle to their next destination, Dr. Taylor's office. Thought Kate had hated doctor's appointments in her early pregnancy, she was becoming accustomed to them now and even mildly enjoyed the minor girl time with Dr. Taylor since she hadn't got to bond with Lanie in weeks.

Once parking their cars, Castle hurried out of his to be able to open the door for his wonderful partner. "So, you like it?" He asked opening the doors.

"It's pretty nice, I guess we can keep it." Kate answered with a wink.

They sat inside the swanky office for only a few seconds before being called back by the usual nurse into the usual exam room.

The exam went as expected, as every exam for the best six weeks had went. Peanut was doing great, Kate was doing great, and everything should go smoothly for the next 10 weeks. However, there was something different about this exam. The advice. Dr. Taylor gave the couple great advice when considering a name for their daughter.

"Most people pick something that is cute or in style if you will, at the time but they don't think about how their child can grow with that name. How is she going to look behind a big desk with the name Luna on the name plate? It might be cute and meaningful but she has to live with that forever, she has to go to college and start a family with that name, make sure the name can grow with her." Kate recalled the doctor saying in her mind as she drove to the loft.

There were a lot of things the couple needed to consider that they hadn't thought about when naming peanut. Would peanut grow up to be a writer, or a detective, or would she be an actress, or a philosopher? The possibilities were endless. If peanut was named Grace, could she be all of things while named Grace? It seemed silly that she was asking herself this but yes she could. Grace would be a detective or a philosopher right? Eva, she would be a writer or an actress. Maybe they would have to resort to the classic flip a coin? Yes, as silly as it would the two names they loved they could see there daughter growing with so they would flip a coin.

As she parked her car and met Castle next to her car in the parking garage. "Let's flip a coin." She shocked him with.

"What?" He questioned out of not only timing but pure curiosity.

"Let's flip a coin to decide. We've already found two names that work perfectly for peanut, so let's flip a coin and decide."

"Really? Flip a coin on the name of our child?!" Castle began. "That's perfect!"

"Alright uh, heads for Eva tails for Grace." Kate told him as she looked through her purse looking for a coin.

"Deal."

They watched as the coin flipped through the air before landing safely on the ground. The couple looked between them to see the coin with heads up.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I know some of my author's notes don't line up with my reviews but it's because I write two chapters in advance, meaning when there is a break in my updates it usually means there is a break in my writing. I hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter! It was much more in character and a lot cuter than what I usually right so I hope you all liked it, and like this too!**

_2 Weeks Later_

It had been two weeks since the couple decided on the name Eva for their blossoming peanut and she had began to be called that much more now. Not only did Eva finally get to be called by her name, Rick and Kate found themselves referring to each more as Dad and Mom too. There daughter would come out knowing half of her father's books at the rate at which Rick read them to her. Not only would their daughter know her father's books, but she would know how excited he was not only to meet her but to see his books being turned into movies.

Tonight was the night. Tonight they were attending the premier of his first book. It seemed so weird that it took his stories and himself so long to get to this point, but everyone was finally there.

Kate was getting ready in the spare bedroom with the hair and make up stylists he ordered for her. She insisted on doing everything herself but Eva had been getting in the way with all her growing and all of the stretching Kate's body would be doing and knew this would not only be better for her but also more relaxing. As Kate was enjoying getting her hair, make up, and nails done before the premier, Rick was sitting alone in his daughter nursery thinking about the next two months to come.

Would these next two months be easy on Kate? Would he get to meet his daughter early? What was the next step in their relationship going to be? He was going to marry Kate, but he wanted to wait until after Eva arrived. They had never really been conventional, so why should they rush to get married before having Eva? Was this what Kate really wanted? He still had a lot of things to figure out in the next two months.

Rick was pulled out of his thoughts by his beautiful wife standing in the door. She was wearing a long purple gown with satin detailing at the top and a flowy skirt that began just under Kate's chest. She looked absolutely stunning. Everything about her was perfect. Her hair, her nails, her dress, her make up, even her stretch marks. It would be impossible for Rick to find something that wasn't perfect when looking at Kate. She was his soulmate.

"Well, what do you think?" She asked him blushing with a small smile.

"You're beautiful. So beautiful…" He croaked nearly in tears.

"You think so?" She asked somewhat jokingly.

"Of course." He answered still stunned.

The two shared some eye contact and soft sweet kisses before it was time to go. In the short time they had they soaked up everything they could from their daughters nursery.

The waiting limo took them to the theatre. The flash of photographers seemed to brighten even more when the couple stepped foot on the red carpet.

They enjoyed their time on the red carpet. Kate felt beautiful which, though she wouldn't admit it to Castle, she hadn't felt much with her baby weight. She always loved how the photographers referred to her as 'Kate' or 'Mrs. Castle', never Beckett. She felt that people sometimes forgot that wasn't her first name.

She didn't realize how long they had stood their posing and taking pictures until it was time for the two of them to head into the theatre. She hadn't realized how little she had been paying attention to her actions or the words coming out of her mouth. Lately her life had consisted of clueing, preparing for Eva, and thinking. She couldn't count the number of people Castle had introduced her to by the time they made their way to the seats. Castle had to be front and center, was it the twelve year old in him coming out?

She didn't know if it was the seats, or eating too push popcorn but soon came a dull ache in her stomach and back. And just like that it was gone. Sometime later she felt it again. This wasn't normal. Were these contractions?! She suddenly didn't know what to do. Did she sit their quietly and save her concern until after it was over? The movie was near the end and she knew Castle wouldn't be mad if they cut the night short, but she would never forgive herself. She could wait, they were what, 15 minutes apart? She'd be fine!

Oh no, the after party. Shit. She forgot about the after party. Well, she could make it through another what three, four hours? Yea she could do this. This wasn't contractions, this was gas. Right? She was too caught up in her worrying about contractions or gas that she barely noticed the film was ending.

"Well baby, what'd you think?!" He turned to her and asked excitedly.

"It was great!" She replied with equal excitement, though she was riding her fear and stress.

"I couldn't have done this without you." He told her nearly in tears for the second time tonight. He could see that melted her heart and careful not to produce too much emotion, he quickly added "you ready to go dance the night away?" He stood and offered her his arm. Just as soon as she accepted Castle felt it important to remind her, it wouldn't be all night, unless she wanted to.

That's when another one hit her. Shit. They were contractions. She must have done a pretty good job hiding it considering he looked over at her numerous times in the 15 seconds that it lasted and didn't notice a thing. By the time they got over to the adjacent hotel's ballroom, there was another one. They were now roughly seven minutes apart and she didn't know how much longer she could do this.

She made small talk with the directors and dignitaries, John Stamos even told her she was pretty. After two hours of this wine and dine sort of thing, her contractions were now five minutes apart, and attempting goofy dance moves every time she got one wasn't hiding the issue anymore.

"Hey baby, I think it's time to go." She told Castle.

"But Kate! The party just got started!" He replied sounded more like a twelve year old with every word.

"Rick, we need to go." She demanded more firmly.

Castle knew she was not to be messed with and scurried along to the waiting limo with her. Once in the limo he tried to comfort her, "does your back hurt baby?"

"Yea, something like that." She answered. Her back hurt, for about 25 seconds every five minutes.

"Here let me rub it." He motioned to her to turn to the side so he could better rub soft circles on her back.

Man, that felt it. It didn't really help, but it felt good.

Finally! They were home. Kate hurried out of the car rushing Castle with her.

"What's the rush hun?" He asked. She shot him a look, usually he would think it meant she was ready for some bedroom action and had waited too long. He was wrong this time. "Oh, Mrs. Castle you'll have to wait a little bit for that." He said to her with a wink.

"Not that Castle, let's just get inside please." She told him as he fumbled in his pockets for his keys.

Finally they reached the door and he put the key in and turned the lock. The lights were out and it was a bit chilly. She felt to her right and turned on the kitchen light before grabbing her stomach in pain. Four minutes. They were four minutes apart. She made it to the island in the middle of the kitchen leaving Castle stunned and scared for their safety in the door way. He rushed over to her as soon as he could comprehend what was going on. As soon as he went to wrap an arm around her, they heard a gushing noise and looked down.

Ruined. His $780 snakeskin shoes were ruined.

"What just happened?" He asked her slowly stunned and scared.

"I think my water just broke." She replied emotionless and shocked.

There was a pause. Just a long enough pause for Kate to know he was thinking about what to say next.

"What? Can't you put it back in?!" He asked frantically.

"Are you kidding me?! I can't put it back in! I want to get a shower and head to the hospital. Dr. Taylor said we should still have enough time if something like that happens, so go back a bag for the next fews days and get there as fast as we can." She then walked away up to the shower.

"But… But… We have the photographer coming tomorrow for photos! And your dad is out of town and…" He tried to finish but witnessed another contraction hitting her. They didn't have time for her to shower.

He ran over to her and wrapped his arms around her side guiding her to the couch before giving her instructions not to move as he frantically ran into their bedroom and grabbed the most comfortable things he could find for the two of them. Eva. Crap. He needed to get an outfit to bring her home in.

"Kate!" He shouted running into the living room with the bag.

"What?" She answered annoyed and somewhat exhausted.

"What is Eva coming home in?"

Crap. She hadn't even thought of that. "The little pink overall dress with the turtle on it. And the long sleeve green shirt." She answered. It was the first outfit that popped in her head. She watched as he frantically ran up the stairs dialing Dr. Taylor as fast as he could. Before she knew it he had returned with a tiny bag packed full of things for Eva.

"Ok let's go!" He told her excitedly as he wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her in the same fashion as he did from the stairs, to the waiting car outside.

This was it. Eva was on her way!

**A/N: If you didn't get the Mean Girls reference, you can't sit with us!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry updates lately have been taking a while, I've had very big term papers due and fell behind on some bills and had to pick up a few extra hours, but I'm back now! With hopefully more frequent updates.**

"How are you doing Ms. Beckett?" Dr. Taylor greeted the frantic couple at the emergency room door at Mount Sinai hospital.

"Contractions are four and half minutes apart, my water broke about fifteen minutes ago." Kate replied even though it wasn't what the doctor really asked.

"How are you Mr. Castle?" Dr. Taylor asked the frantic dad-to-be; after all, he still mattered a great deal in this too.

"Oh I um, I um, I'm good, yea I'm good." He answered a bit zoned out and stumbling over his words. He had been wheeling Kate as fast as he could from the door to the awaiting room that Dr. Taylor was leading them too. All this was too surreal and a part of him couldn't believe Eva couldn't just wait like 10 or so more weeks.

"Alright Kate," Dr. Taylor began while opening the door to what would be Kate's possibly delivery room. "Let's get you into a gown and see how far dilated you are." Dr. Taylor assisted Kate out of her wheel chair and grabbed the gown from the bed for Castle to help her get into. She slipped her arms in the gown first as Castle unzipped her dress from the premier and tied the back of it up as it fell to the ground.

Once she was ready, Rick helped her make her way to the bed. Dr. Taylor was already waiting at the foot of the bed, gloves ready.

"Well Kate, you're seven centimeters dilated…"

"Seven centimeters, that means I'm too far along to try and stop labor… Is she gonna be ok?" Kate cut off Dr. Taylor frantically.

"Yes, she will be fine." Dr. Taylor began wrapping the strap connected to a machine to monitor Kate's contractions and Eva's heart beat, around Kate's middle. "Her lungs might be a little under developed but she will be ok. Nurse Brady and Nurse Huecker are gonna be in in just a few to get your IV started. Now, most importantly I need you to relax. Putting yourself under extra stress isn't helping you, your labor, or the baby." She paused and placed her hand on Kate's hand and looked her in the eye, "everything will be ok." She reminded her before leaving the room and having Nurse Brady and Nurse Huecker.

Rick felt helpless. Nervous and helpless. He watched as the woman he loved was poked and prodded. He could see every emotion on her face, every ounce of pain, every worried moment, he could see. When the nurses where finally done, a small smile crept across her face and was replaced very shortly after with tears.

"What's wrong honey?" He asked as he got up from his chair and nearly sprinted to the two feet to her.

"I failed." She mumbled through the tears. "I should have taken better care of us, I should have told you sooner then none of this would be happening. I was supposed to take care of her and I failed."

"Honey, you did anything but fail. You gave this little girl an amazing 30 weeks inside you, you cared for her like no one else could. You've sacrificed so much for her already, and you are going to be the most amazing mother the world has ever seen."

Tears started falling even faster as a small smile broke from her face admitting to Castle that he was right. This was all too much for her and everything around her was crashing to the ground as her mind raced and her body became more exhausted with each passing moment. Castle could tell that she needed to be safe and in his arms, even if only for a few moments; so he made it happen. He became more amazed by her when he noticed she seeming had the ability to read his mine. She moved over ever so slightly to make room for him in the rather small bed. The same feeling Castle was feeling regarding Kate, was matched in Kate's mind by Castle. They really were perfect together, and finally they were together, and were about to be for a lifetime.

They laid there together for honors, though they only seemed like minutes. Neither one of them got any sleep in those hours. Kate, though worried, was worrying less. The relaxing seemed to help. Kate was still only seven centimeters dilated after four hours in the hospital. The longer Kate's labor drag on, the more steroids Eva could get and the more her lungs could develop. The nurses had walked the couple through everything earlier and it seemed everything was going as everyone hoped it would.

Rick could see another contraction coming on, her face gave it away. They were lasting about fifteen seconds a piece, except for this one. Rick helped Kate breathe through the fifteen seconds, but the contraction still had Kate leaning over in pain. He knew something was wrong and as fast as he could, he climbed out of the bed and searched for the remote to call the nurse. As soon as he pressed the button, a hand full of nurses came in followed by Dr. Taylor. Castle stretched his arm out as far as he could to continue holding her hand over all the people that were checking her and Eva's vitals and such. None of the machines that they were hooked up to were doing anything out of the ordinary, but this pain was anything but ordinary.

"We need her in an emergency C-Section, she's bleeding all over the place." Rick overheard Dr. Taylor tell one of the nurses. Why were they not telling anyone this? Was it that bad?

"What's going on?" Rick asked.

"Everything's going to be ok Rick, I just need you to stay calm for Kate. She is hemorrhaging meaning she's somehow losing a lot of blood. We don't really know where it's coming from, I couldn't see any visible tears but there was a lot of blood. We need to get this baby out of her to make sure they're both ok." Dr. Taylor told him quickly and worriedly.

He was in shock. Were they going to be ok? He couldn't imagine attempting to live without either one of them. As he walked toward the waiting room, he saw Jim running towards him.

"Hey, how's Katie?" Jim asked.

Castle just looked at him with a blank stare on his face. How was she? He didn't even know. Jim could see all of his emotions clearly on his face, his fear, his sadness, and a bit of his anger. "I don't know." Castle told Jim plainly. "I just don't know."

Jim pulled the man into his embrace as tears began to fall from his eyes. They stood their for a few moments as Castle regained himself. He was never one to cry, but in this circumstance he needed. to. Jim guided Castle over to a chair as Castle told him what little information he knew. Castle could tell Jim was now just as worried as he was.

Once Castle finished sobbing, he turned to pacing. He wasn't just worried at this point, he was freaking out. He paced the same spot in the waiting room so much he figured he'd put a whole in the carpet. He looked at his watch, ten minutes. It had only been ten minutes since they had rushed Kate into surgery. Dr. Taylor told them earlier a C-Section could take up to an hour. He couldn't wait an hour, he needed to know Kate was ok.

Jim on the other hand, just continue to sit in his chair in shock. How had his daughter had a seemingly health pregnancy and now this? Johanna had no complications with Kate, not one. How had Kate's pregnancy turned so much different in just a few hours?

The two had gotten caught up in their thoughts for so long they barely noticed the nurse walking towards them. Once she was merely a few feet away, Castle finally noticed her. He looked at her with anticipation, in hopes she would bring good news.

"Well Mr. Castle, you have a daughter, congratulations!" She told him.

He was excited, he was overjoyed really, but he still need to know about Kate. "What about Kate?" He asked her frantically.

"There was a lot of bleeding, but Dr. Taylor is working on stopping it now and sewing her up. We're not sure whether she will need a transfusion or not. She did have to be sedated for the procedure, but will wake up in a few hours." Hope. Though it wasn't the best news, it gave him hope. Richard Castle had began to fear the worst, so just hearing that there is a significant chance that she would be fine was good news to him.

Castle also failed to notice Jim standing next to him taking in the same information he had, until he asked the nurse, "when can we see her?"

"I'm not sure, she will probably be in surgery for the next half an hour, but more than likely immediately after." She told them before turning her attention to Castle. "Mr. Castle, would you like to see your daughter?"

Castle immediately looked at Jim with his jaw slightly open. "Do you…" He began. He knew it was just as important for Jim to meet the new arrival as it was for him.

"No, you go, it's your daughter. I'll wait for mine." With that Castle gave him a small smile and headed with the nurse to the NICU where his daughter was waiting.

"She very tiny compared to most full term babies, as to be expected. She isn't breathing very well on her own, but she's only on supplemental oxygen which is very good. I'm not sure if you'll be able to hold her yet, but one of the NICU nurses will update you more." She told him just before they arrived at the nursery. "Congratulations!" She told him again before opening the door for him to be greet by yet another nurse.

"Hi Mr. Castle, I'm Susan. You're daughter is going to be fine." She told him motioning for him to follow her to a teeny tiny squirming body laying in an incubator. She turned around just in time to see his jaw drop and his mouth cover his mouth as tears began to slowly fall from his eyes.

"She's mine?!" He asked the nurse still shocked. She shook her head. "I made that?" He questioned again still not believing his eyes.

She smiled at his somewhat silly question. "Yes, Mr. Castle, that is your daughter. Would you like to hold her?"

Castle shook his head as Susan pulled up a rocking chair for him to sit in. She reached in and lightly picked up the child hoping to keep her from crying. She carefully placed the baby into Castle's waiting arms.

This really was an utterly magical moment. He was holding his child. He wanted nothing more for her than for her to be happy and healthy her entire life. He also wanted to kiss her sweet little forehead, but was afraid with all the machines monitoring her.

He was so blown away with how much she looked like Kate. The two of them spent one night a few weeks ago looking at baby pictures of each other trying to decide what Eva would look like. She was a little clone of Kate with his eyes. He had never seen anything more perfect.

This overwhelming feeling of love, had only hit him once before - the first time he held Alexis. It seemed like the world stopped and it was only the two of them. He watched as she stirred, looked around slightly, smiled at him a few times. She really was a miracle and the effects of this tiny miracle taking comfort in his arms brought tears to his eyes.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there, looking down at her with tears in his eyes, but it must have been a while.

"Mr. Castle," he turned around to the women speaking his name. "Ms. Beckett is ready to see you." He looked up at her and then down at Eva. She gently took Eva and put her in the incubator and showed Castle to Kate's room down the hall.

He opened the door slowly not knowing what to expect, just overjoyed that she was ok. She was awake, and she was ok.

"Hi…" He spoke softly coming into the room. He didn't want to startle her.

"Hi honey" she matched him groggily.

"How are you feeling?" He said coming closer and pulling up a chair next to her.

"Tired, and sore." She answered.

"I can tell. You're beautiful. I love you so much." He told her. He really could not get over how beautiful she was, or how much he loved her. He needed her in his life, he needed her there forever.

"How's Eva?" She asked.

"Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful." He answered nearly in tears just thinking about his daughter.

The two shared pulled each other into an embrace, Castle ensuring that Kate was not in any pain doing so. They held each other for just a few sweet moments, letting everything that had happened in the past day soak in.

"Can I see her?" She asked.

"Let me ask the nurse." He pressed the nurse button on the remote and asked if Kate would be able to see the baby. A few moments later a wheel chair was brought in and the nurse and Castle guided Kate into the wheel chair.

They wanted this time alone, and the nurse could tell. This was a very special moment for the two of them. Castle wheeled Kate out of her room and into the nursery were Eva was.

Kate had the same magical moment that Rick did upon seeing her. They both began crying tears of joy at how luck they were to not only have a healthy baby girl but to have each other. The first few moments were blissfully perfect.

"She's not an Eva." Kate looked at Rick interrupting their perfect moment.

"What?" He asked confused.

"She's not an Eva. I can tell. She's just not an Eva." She answered.

Castle was utterly confused at what Kate was saying. "How is she not an Eva? We decided on Eva." He was so confused by her suggestion.

"She's just not an Eva. I can tell. She's a Charlotte. I just know."

"Charlotte?" He asked. They had never really discussed the name though Castle had mentioned it a few times.

"Yes, she's a Charlotte." She told him looking at him with warm eyes.

"Charlotte it is!"


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: The part about changing her name after seeing her, that comes from my mother and what she did with me. I was supposed to be Allison and became MacKenzie after I was born, but if you met you, you'd know I'm more of a MacKenzie… **

_3 Days Later_

Kate was still exhausted. She was amazed at how after three days, she could still barely keep her eyes open for more than a few hours at a time. Dr. Taylor told her it was because of everything her body had just undergone and it was part of her body's healing process; but she didn't buy it. She was Kate Beckett, she didn't get tired.

Every second she spent thinking, she was thinking about her daughter. She couldn't believe how beautiful she was and how amazing of a miracle her life was just thus far. Her tiny beautiful blue eyes would be a reminder forever of the amazing father she had. Her dark brown hair would serve as a reminder of her mother and late grandmother who would always be looking down upon her.

After laying still in her hospital bed, thinking about her daughter she decided today would be the day. Today would be the day she would actually walk to see her daughter instead of ride in the wheelchair as everyone insisted. Today would mark the day that she attempted to get Dr. Taylor to discharge her and allow her to go home and finishing getting every last detail ready for Charlotte, today was going to be her first day of really taking care of her child. She felt as though she had neglected her, she hadn't been holding her and playing with her all day as she figured she would when she was pregnant, so now it was time to make that happen.

Her attempt to sit up on her own woke Rick up, who was sound asleep in the chair next to her. He looked and was rather uncomfortable but promised himself he would stay with her the entire time. "What are you doing babe?" He questions groggy.

"Just trying to sit up." She told him through some slight sounds of discomfort.

"Baby, why are you trying to sit up? You know what Dr. Taylor told you." He rushed to help her sit up. She had an emergency C-Section meaning her scar was horizontal causing even little every day tasks to become painful.

"I wanna see Charlotte."

"Kate, you can see Charlotte anytime, I don't think at four am just days after major emergency surgery is really a good time to be Miss Independent." He told her. She didn't like the response but brushed it aside. She wanted to see her daughter and that was that.

"I just want to see her, hold her, and make sure she is ok Castle, and that is what I will be." She told him firmly. Kate Beckett was a woman of her word and would not let some surgery stop her, she never had in the past.

"Ok." He gave in, he wanted the same.

She tried to glide her to the wheel chair, but one shake of the head lead them on a slow walk down a hallway that seemed much smaller from the comfort of her wheel chair. The nurse in the nursery saw the couple and smiled to herself. Everyone in the maternity ward knew the amazing parents they would be, especially because of their resilience when it came to holding their daughter.

She opened the door for the slow moving couple and pulled a rocking chair next to their sleeping daughters incubator. In addition to her usual oxygen, Charlotte now had a feeding tube due to some trouble she was having sucking, but Dr. Taylor reassured the couple that this was a common problem for premies and with the tremendous progress she had made in three days, she should have it out by the end of the week. The nurse carefully sat the sleeping child in Kate's arms and went to tend to some other small babies.

Kate was amazed. Amazed at how she and the love of her life created this beautiful creature. Castle matched Kate's amazement as he sat on a stool next to her staring at his daughter and stroking her tremendous amount of brown hair. "I love this." She said with a smile staring at their daughter then softly switching her gaze to the girls father.

"It's amazing." He said matching her with the same soft sweet smile.

"I want another one." She told him simply.

"Another what?" He began with a puzzled look on his face. Kate looked down at their daughter and then back at him. "Oh another one of these." He put emphasis on the 'these'. "Why do we see how this one goes and then decide on another one?" His questions with his logic seeming very un-Castle like.

"No." She softly shook his head. "We're going to have another one. Soon." He knew he was in for trouble, Kate Beckett was a woman of her word.

**A/N: Sorry this is short, I've been busy and had some writers block and this is all I could get out :/ thanks for the reviews and the love on twitter guys!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Story this story is getting so precious and fluffy, I can't help it! And it doesn't write it self, so sorry for the delay!**

_2 Weeks Later_

"Come on Castle!" She hollered up the stairs of the loft.

"I'm coming!" He answered rushing down the stairs. "Sorry, clearing more space."

"Well let's go, I wanna be able to feed Charlotte." The couple left out the door and into the waiting car. Charlotte was now two weeks old and just a few days away from finally going home with her parents.

"Alright, ready?" He asked from the drivers seat as she finished putting on her seat belt.

"Ready!" She matched with a smile. "Are Alexis and Martha meeting us there?"

"They're going to meet us for some lunch then go shopping with us. Looks like it's just the three of us today!" He answered with a smile.

Charlotte was just a few days short of coming home and for the past two weeks almost anytime the lucky parents got to see their daughter, they had a crowd following. For the first time in two week they were going to get to bond with their daughter before bringing her home. It killed them to leave the hospital without her for the first time. They expected that their happy and healthy daughter would be coming home with them after a few days, instead they got a tiny little girl who had her own struggles to manage before coming to her loving home.

"How are you feeling today?" He asked realizing he hadn't asked her all day?

"Eh, alright. The scar hurts a little but, I knew it was going to." She answered.

"Have you decided if you're going to go back to work?" He was almost trying to pick a fight with that question.

"Of course I am Rick, why would I not?" She knew his intentions and if that's what he wanted to do, he'd do that.

"Well I don't know, maybe just out of fear of something happen now that we have Charlotte." He told her rather calmly though this matter wasn't something to take lightly.

"Castle, I'll be fine. I did this for years before Charlotte, I did it for nine er… seven months while I was pregnant with her, I can do this." She told him raising her voice the farther on her statement got.

He ended the conversation there, not saying another word. He knew that wasn't a good idea but instead of running the risk of making this argument a life shattering one, he just turned away.

The rest of the ride to the hospital was filled with long, tense silence. Rick parked the car in silence and they walked to the nursery, in silence. Kate checked in the with the nurse, who informed the couple it was time for Charlotte to eat. They sat down in their usual chairs in the nursery and the nurse handed Charlotte to Kate for her to feed. As the nurse walked away, Kate began to unbutton her shirt and allow the infant to eat.

He couldn't stand the silence anymore. "Kate, I…"

"Castle, save it. We can talk about it later, right now I just want to us to enjoy our time with our daughter."

"Ok baby."

**A/N: Sorry it's short. This story is actually coming to an end within the next five chapters but right now I gotta focus on finals. Boo!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I'm sorry my updates suck but now that I'm done with school for the semester… here's more! Also, this fic only has a few more chapters left and I wanna know what you all are feeling, part two?**

_Three Weeks Later_

Kate looked down at her beautiful, bright blue eyed daughter with amazement. She had been home for exactly three weeks down and she managed to fall in love with her more and more every day. Today marked the first day the two of them spent away from daddy. Rick was out promoting his latest book, which he managed to write in just a few days surprisingly. He somehow managed to find inspiration in the time that Kate spent recovering from birth and though this latest book wasn't his typical one, Nikki Heat remained his main heroine and his new book, Body Heat explored Nikki Heat's personal life.

He would be gone in Los Angeles for just over twenty four hours and Kate was sure to not waste a minute of that time bonding with her daughter. Kate enjoyed every little moment with her, even when she was crying at 2:00 AM and Kate was getting no sleep, she loved it. Though she couldn't call any of the little moments her favorite, she throughly enjoyed bathing Charlotte last night and looking at her little blue eyes grow wider and her cooing noise when she laid her in the what must have been cold water. The tiny shiver the infant did brought the biggest smile to Kate's face and the thought of a million more of these little moments to light up her life.

Now Kate was wrapped up in a blanket Rick had bought from the hospital for Charlotte which seemed to be the softest blanket Kate had ever touched. Her legs were sprawled out on the couch with the blanket covering them and her daughter wrapped up warmly in a blanket and resting on Kate's legs. She gently stroked the side of her face and almost begged for her to wake up, even if she was crying, just to be able to look into her blue eyes more.

She was however somewhat thankful that her daughter was sleeping because tonight was the first 'Girls Night' she would be having with Lanie since before Charlotte was born. With Rick out of the house, it was much needed. Rick hadn't left the loft in three weeks and as much as she enjoyed having him around all the time, she did need a break.

Kate continued to stare peacefully at her daughter. What would she be? Would she be a writer like her father, a lawyer like her grandmother? Would she have his personality or hers? Maybe a mix of both. Would she be a tomboy or a girly girl? Kate was truly estastic about the future, though the thought of her daughter growing too big for her to hold brought tears to her eyes.

Finally the door bell rang. Kate moved Charlotte around until she was laying in her bent left arm. She flung the blanket of the back of the couch and grabbed the gun that was sitting on the coffee table. It seemed a little odd that Kate would have her gun so close to her child, and she never had before, but being alone she feared some crazy person could easily ring their bell and do harm to her, or worse, Charlotte and holstered it on her hip just in case as she walked toward the door.

Before she could open the door she could hear Lanies familiar voice. "Hey girl! I brought white zinfandel and moscato!" Lanie exclaimed as she walked through the threshold.

Upon entering she noticed the sturing little Charlotte had done upon the loud, unsuspected noise that was Lanies voice.

"Oh honey don't wake up!" Lanie said softly stroking the infants tiny head. "Mommy needs a girls night with Aunt Lanie and that will be pretty hard if you try to steal all of her attention."

Maybe it was the gently bouncing in Kate's arms, or Lanies voice, but one of the two helped put the child back in her peaceful slumber.

"Hey Lanie!" Kate finally got out feeling a little bit forgotten.

"Hi honey!" Lanie said excitedly and softly wrapping an arm around Kate's neck to pull her in for an embrace. "How's it going being a mom and all?!"

"Good, a little bit exhausting, but good!" Kate answered with a smile.

"Good, now all moms need a mommy's night! So which one first?!" Lanie asked.

"I don't know if I should be drinking, I'm still breast feed…" Kate began.

"And it won't hurt. Do you have enough milk pumped to last you through the night?" Kate nodded. "Then you'll be fine. Trust me, I'm a doctor!" Lanie told her with a little sassy wink at the end.

"Now, let's go with the mosacato, I know you like your white wine spritzers!" Lanie said looking for a cork screw and gathering some glasses out of the cabinet.

"Let me go in the other room with her so the noise doesn't wake her up." Kate told Lanie walking toward the bedroom she shared with Castle. Once she heard a soft pop Kate came back into the kitchen.

"Alright girl, here you go!" Lanie said handing her the drink.

Kate looked down at the sleeping baby in her arms then up a Lanie with a small laugh. "I probably shouldn't carry both of these!" She told Lanie.

"Oh right!" Lanie said motioning for Kate to hand her the child so Kate could grab the swing out of the living room to put the child in.

She moved the swing into the kitchen and put Charlotte in the swing. She was in just a white t-shirt so Kate kept the blanket around her to keep her warm. After placing Charlotte in the swing, she hopped on the bar stool and began sipping the wine Lanie had left in front of her.

"How you like being a mom girl?!" Lanie asked excitedly standing across from Kate on the other side of the kitchen island.

"I love it." Kate answered with a smile and looked over at Charlotte.

"You ready for baby number two?" Lanie jokingly asked.

Kate blushed a bit and let out a little giggle. "I don't know about all that. I remember being on all the pain meds and telling Castle I wanted to have another one soon and I think he thinks I was serious. I really don't know how to tell him I wasn't."

"You would girl." Lanie told her light heartily. "You've still never given me any of the details on the sex!"

Kate laughed. "Well, what is there to tell? We did it and we had a baby."

"Oh you know what I want."

"Yes he's big." Kate told her followed by laughing between the two.

"I bet he's good in the sheets too!" Lanie stated.

"Yea, really good!" Kate told her with a blushing smile.

"Those six weeks post partum must have killed you!" Lanie joked.

"Oh yea!" Kate added.

"So when's he gonna pop the question?" Lanie asked with more seriousness.

"I don't know. I honestly don't know if he will…"

"What?! Why not?! He's crazy for you Kate!" Lanie could sense the fear in Kate's voice.

"I don't know it's just, he's been married three times before and they all lead to divorce, why would he want to get married again and risk that?"

Truth was, Kate did want to marry Rick. There was no question in that and she felt like he wanted to take the next step too, but maybe he didn't want to put a title on it. Maybe it was his fear of the title "marriage" put on any relationship that meant something to him. She knew deep down it didn't matter if they shared silver bands on their fingers and a certificate to physically show their bond, she felt as though she was already married to Richard Castle; that she was Mrs. Richard Castle.

Lanie could tell Kate was a little distracted and in her own world by the question, so she referred Kate's interest to something else. "Is she sleeping through the night yet?"

"Huh, oh yea almost. She just gets up once to be fed around three." Kate answered looking back at Charlotte with a smile.

"You ready to spend your first night without Castle with her?" Lanie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I hope. She's been good so far, I don't even think she realizes he's gone. Plus we're having grandpa time tomorrow!" Kate told her still smiling at her.

"Well, now it's Aunt Lanie time!" Lanie said walking over to the sleeping child and removing her from the swing and holding her close to her chest. "Uh girl, you smell that?" She asked a few seconds after picking Charlotte up.

"What?" Kate said beginning to move closer before being overwhelmed with the scent. "Goodness child you are your father's child, that's for sure."

Charlotte had pooped. And she hadn't just pooped, she pooped everywhere. Kate and Lanie looked to the swing at the same time to see the poop that had been smushed in the seat where Charlotte was laying.

"Looks like it's bath time with Aunt Lanie!" Kate looked down at a still sleeping Charlotte just to see the child express a small smile.

Luck would have it, the one night she got Charlotte bathed and ready for bed early, she'd fill up her entire diaper and get poop all over her just hours after.

"What do you need me to do girl?" Lanie asked.

"Uh, well just follow me." Kate answered and beginning to walk up the stairs. She opened the door to Charlotte's nursery and not remembering that Lanie had yet to see the finished product and was stunned with the beauty of it.

"Kate… her nursery is beautiful!" Lanie said in awe.

Kate looked back at Lanie, slightly blushing and smiled. "Thank you!"

Lanie didn't notice Kate grabbing the baby bathtub from the bottom shelf of the changing table. She already had the baby soap, wash cloth, robe, and lotion in the tub ready to go. She picked it up just as Lanie was coming out of her surprised state.

"Here hun I got that!" Lanie said taking a few steps over to Kate and taking the tub out of Kate's hands.

"Thanks! Alright let's go downstairs." Just as Kate finished her sentence Charlotte began to cry. "Hold on." Kate said as she walked over to Charlottes crib and picked up a pacifier. "There you go, that's better." She cooed Charlotte as she placed the pacifier in her mouth and headed down stairs with Lanie.

The three of them made their way down the stairs and Kate instructed Lanie to place the tub in the kitchen sink and Kate began to test the water on one elbow and coo Charlotte in the other.

"Girl you got this mother thing down!" Lanie told Kate eyeing her wonderful mothering skills.

Kate laughed. "You're not going to believe that if you see me later tonight with a screaming Charlotte hoping Castle walks through that door any moment, and just my luck that will happen." The two women shared a chuckle at Kate's comment.

"Alright, let's get you in the bath." Kate said to a now naked Charlotte as she hurried her into the bath and closed her dirty diaper to put in the trash.

Lanie came up behind Kate and began making faces at Charlotte, causing her to laugh and eventually drop her pacificier into the now dirty water of her bath.

"Here, I'll feed her!" Lanie insisted after Kate had finished bathing and feeding Charlotte.

"You sure?" Kate questioned heating the child's bottle up.

"Yea, I need to bond with my niece!" Kate smiled before handing Charlotte to Lanie with a bottle and placing a burp cloth on Lanie's shoulder.

The two talked for hours, drank their bottle of wine, and before they knew it, it had gotten into the wee hours of the morning. Lanie and Kate said their goodbyes and Lanie placed a kiss on Charlottes forehead. Kate locked the door behind Lanie and headed into the master bedroom.

"I love you little Miss Charlotte." Kate told her daughter as she placed her in the middle of the bed and put the pillows from Rick's side of the bed on the other side of her to keep her from rolling anywhere.

She picked up her phone and called Rick to say goodnight.

"Hello?" A groggy Castle answered.

"Hi honey!" She said.

"Hey!" She could tell she had woken him up, but she could also tell he was smiling.

"How was your day?" Kate asked.

"Long." He replied very tired.

"I'm sorry baby. Charlotte pooped all over herself, there's no doubt she's your child." Kate said with a giggle that Castle soon matched. "Well I was just calling to say good night and that Charlotte and I love you."

"Ok baby, I love you too." He told her. "And Charlotte." He added being sure not forget his newest daughter.

"Have a safe trip home and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ok baby, I love you. See you tomorrow." He didn't want to say goodbye first, she could tell. She sucked it up this time, and took one for the team.

"Bye baby."

"Bye."

Kate hung up her phone and placed it back on the nightstand before climbing in bed with her daughter.

"Mommy and daddy love you Charlotte." She told her before placing an arm around her and slowly drifting to sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: FINALS ARE OVER! Thank the lawd! I didn't do as good as I was hoping but I was also a sophomore taking five upper level classes so the fact that I passed them all is a miracle! I'm also changing my major so it's kind like it doesn't even matter… Anyway, I hope you liked some Lanie/Kate/Charlotte bonding, I know you all are going to LOOOOOVEEEE this chapter ;) but in traditional me style, you'll probably hate me a little bit at the start of the second part. Yes, I'm going to make this a two parter and would love some ideas on what to do with it! I was hoping to have another chapter to add on to this before starting the second part, but I feel like this is a good place to start. The next part (title is TBD) will give actual dates rather than time lapses. I'd love to see this get to 100 reviews, but if not, thanks to all of you for all your support and I hope you like part two!**

_One Week Later_

"C'mon Kate, we don't wanna be late! Our reservations are at 8:30!" He told her trying to hurry her out the door.

"I'm coming!" She said fixing one of her earrings and heading out of their bedroom door.

Castle was in shocked, she looked as beautiful as ever. She could sense that he was overwhelmed with how beautiful she looked and she began to blush and look down at her shoes.

"Wow," was all he could say.

"You like it?" She asked. It was beautiful, she was beautiful. She knew she was going to be little chilly wearing this dress so close to Christmas, but couldn't resist buying it a few months ago before Charlotte was born and was happy to already be back to her normal size. It was a somewhat form fitting, as in not too tight white dress, with three quarter sleeves and a jeweled collar. Her nude heels and soft jewelry, all of which he had bought her recently, completed her look.

"Yea!" He said in a matter of fact sort of way.

"Good." She smiled as she took the hand he had extended to her and headed out the door.

Charlotte was spending her first night away from her parents at Martha's apartment. Martha, Charlotte, and Alexis were going to have a girls movie night in and were already starting Charlotte early on her fashion sense, changing her clothes into something more 'Charlotte' as they described it before they left with her.

Castle guided her to the waiting car and instructed the driver where to go. He must be up to something, he very rarely hired a driver. She didn't want to ask, afraid she would either ruin his surprise or he'd really be up to nothing and she'd mistake his kindness for something else so she continued with the looks and smiles the couple had been sharing all night.

The couple finally arrived at their destination, a romantic italian restaurant near the northern part of SOHO. "You ready?" He asked at the driver opened his door.

She smiled in response. He walked over to the other side of car and opened the door for her. He took her hand to help her out. The driver closed the door behind the couple as Castle lead her into the restaurant. They walked up to the hostess stand who was already waiting for the couple. Castle looked over to her and smiled, she wouldn't admit it, but she was still amazed by him and all the things he would do for it.

They were guided to a small table near the back which was both quiet and cozy, just what the couple needed.

The couple ordered some wine and had just began to look through their menus when Castle asked, "how would you feel about getting married?" He put down his menu and looked at her, in a sense demanding a serious response.

"I mean I've thought about it. I'd like to, but I already feel like we're married sometimes, I mean we have Charlotte, we live together, the only thing we don't do is share bills - and that's because you won't let me."

"I know, I was just wanting to let you know that although I love you with all my heart, I don't know if I wanna put the marriage title on another relationship." He told her. She didn't know, but he was lying through his teeth.

"I figured, and I understand. Maybe we can talk about this later?" She suggested and she saw their waiter headed their way.

"Have we decided?" The young man probably about twenty dressed in all black to match the rest of the waiters asked the couple.

"Yea, we're both gonna do the antipasto, no olives, and the salmon." Castle ordered for them.

"Alright, I'll have that right out!"

"Since when do you order for me?" Kate asked almost upset at his actions.

"Since I know what's good here and I know you were going to order the chicken alfredo and you need to live a little." He told her. It was true, she was going to get something simple that she had tried before to ensure that she liked it, but she had no choice.

She shook her head at him.

He smiled knowing he was right. "You won't regret it." He leaned in very close to whisper to her. "I promise."

He was acting like he did when they first met tonight, maybe because he knew she secretly loved it.

"So you ready for baby number two?" He jokingly asked.

That got a giggle out of her. "Not for a while!" She told him.

"You think she's that bad?! I think she's great!" He said trying to act more and more like his old self and annoy her to no end.

"No, she's wonderful, but I want to have sometime to ourselves with her, and sometime to get my normal body back." She told him.

"Oh yea, you gotta look good for all those other Dr. Motorcycle Boys you're going to be encountering staying home with Charlotte. I totally understand." He was being a smart ass, that's for sure.

"Yes Castle, that's exactly why I wanna get back in shape." She was matching his smart assness with some of her own.

Castle smiled, Kate smiled, and then their food arrived. The waiter sat their food in front of them and asked if they needed anything. The two enjoyed their food and Castle ordered dessert for the both of them when the waiter returned.

"Are you ready to spend your second night away from Charlotte in two weeks?" She asked him.

"No, but I'm ready to spend my first night with just you in weeks." He answered. "Why don't we get to that?"

He left a $100 bill on the table, knowing it was enough to cover the bill that the server had yet to bring and enough for plenty of a tip. They walked about to the waiting car, Castle opening the door for her before heading over to the other side. The couple curled up next to each other and discussed how excited they were to be able to sleep through the night without Charlotte needing to be fed or changed or just cooed.

"Wait, stop here." Castle told the driver, the driver doing as he asked, in front of the park with the swing set that they had visited numerous times. Kate couldn't recognized where they were going from her side.

"Castle, why are we stopping? It's like ten degrees outside and I didn't have a coat to match this and I'm freezing." She told him, she was really just ready to go home. The soft layer of snow that had fallen while they were at dinner made their usual swing set look picturesque.

"Here, take my jacket," he began wrapping his jacket around her. "It will only take a minute."

When Rick opened the door for her it instantly hit her where they were. They had been there many times, and it never meant something good. Was Rick's attitude at the restaurant foreshadowing to what was coming? Why would he arrange all of this to break up with her? She was so incredibly confused.

She did well hiding her emotions and he took her hand and guided her to their usual swing set before wiping off the seats and motioning for her to sit. She looked at him expecting the worst, instead she saw him look behind him. She wasn't sure what he was doing. He knew whatever he was planning was going to be huge, maybe he was checking to see if anyone else was there in case she lost it when he broke up with her. She really was fearing the worst.

She didn't know that Rick looking behind him was to check for someone, three very important people. He was not only checking for Jim and Charlotte, but for the secret photographer he had hired to capture everything that was about to happen.

As their eyes met once more, he got down on one knee. Tears began to form in her eyes as her hands went to cover her now gaping mouth. He pulled the light blue box out of his pocket and opened it for her to see the beautiful ring he just picked out for her, and spent a pretty penny on before finally muttering "Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you marry me?"

Tears began to stream down both of their faces and she nodded yes, unable to speak and overcome with emotion. He took the ring out the box and slipped it on her left hand ring finger which she had removed from her still gaping mouth.

The couple stood up and shared a deep and beautiful kiss. Just as Kate pulled away she saw her father, carrying her daughter, and walking toward her with tears beginning to form in his eyes. She stepped away from Castle and hugged her father, careful not to wake her sleeping daughter in his arms.

"Congratulations baby girl." Jim told her before placing a kiss on her forehead.

**A/N: Well, sorry it's kind of short but what did you think of it?! Here's links to Kate's dress and her ring!**

**Dress - . **

**Ring - . ?GroupSku=GRP10055&selectedSku=25407563#f+1/0/0/0/0/0**


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